Rules
While the game is principally free-form, there are rules to govern how powerful characters can be as well as ways to resolve disputes and avoid role playing gridlock. First, any boon, anything that makes a character special is called an Advantage. Your character, being a cut above the common Joe, naturally begins with a few Advantages and you gain more over time. Second, when players can’t agree on how a scene should play out (or would prefer to keep things random) things are decided with a die roll and each appropriate Advantages grant a bonus to each player’s roll. Third, when there’s a dispute over what Advantages are and aren’t applicable, Moderators can decide. Moderators are only there to decide what is and isn’t appropriate for the game and may ask you to edit your posts if you’ve written something your character couldn’t have done either as the product of blatant metagame knowledge or a truly impossible feat. 1a. A player begins play with 1 Character, 4 Advantages and 6 Story Elements. 1b. Additional player characters are essentially free, but are unremarkable until they gain the benefit of an advantage. You are free to spend your budget of advantages between any of your characters. 2. Players gain 1 Advantage every two weeks and every new Chapter. 3. Players may lose 1 Advantage to gain another to replace it 1 real life week later. 4. Players gain 1 Story Element and 1 Plot Ticket each real life week. Story elements add something neutral to the world and make it more rich and interesting without granting a boon to a specific character. Places, races, historical events and other things are added to the world with as Story Elements. Plot tickets manipulate these elements and make things happen. Blizzards, goblin attacks and 50% off sales all happen when someone uses a Plot Ticket. Plot Tickets may also be used to allow your character to make a timely appearance in scenes that are already in progress, stumble upon a clue, or some other convenient plot device. 5. Plot Tickets are lost if not used in 1 week. Story Elements accumulate to a maximum of 3. Advantages accumulate as long as you participate in the game regularly. 6. Advantages are anything good for a character. Magic items, talents, special powers, wealth, allies, etc are all examples of Advantages. 7. You may increase the Rank of an Advantage by spending 1 from your budget. Each rank of an Advantage roughly doubles its power. The maximum rank for any one Advantage is 3 (for now). 8. In highly specific contests where one character has a highly focused Advantage or overwhelming odds against a character or characters lacking any applicable Advantages, the first party may invoke "No Contest" and appeal to the mods to eschew with any rolling. For example, if two characters were competing to see who was the better chef and only one of them had the Master Chef advantage (a highly specific advantage indeed), they would win automatically. 9. Moderators can decide on the appropriateness of play. Basically, any time something is “not cool” moderators get to change that in the name of fair play and common sense. 10. In addition to the Moderators we shall recruit in this thread, the game will have three Super Moderators to serve some specific functions. Super Moderators determine the end and beginning of chapters, and as a unanimous decision can institute situations into the game that bypass the normal Story Elment/Plot Ticket structure. Finally, Super Moderators can act as a tripartite body for issues that a Moderator does not feel comfortable on ruling or if a player wishes to appeal a Moderator ruling. Advantages An advantage is anything good for your character(s), an ability, a special power, an item, a title or trait. You may use a new advantage to increase the rank of an existing advantage or create an alternate use or additional power for one. Note, Player Characters are always free. However, making them special or noteworthy requires an advantage to be spent. Examples of Good Advantages: • Strength – This character is exceptionally strong and capable of great feats • Charisma – This character is charming, witty and a natural leader • Beauty – This character is just radiantly good looking • Education – This character has proper schooling and is knowledgeable in matters scholastic • Flaming Sword – This character is in possession of a powerful magical blade • Hideout – This character has a base of operations for his band of thieves • Guard Captain – This character commands a regiment of soldiers • Ice Magic – This character can freeze water and hurl shards of ice with a gesture One Spell, One Trick' '– Magic doesn’t give you free reign to do anything. When choosing a magical advantage, select a single purpose for your spell or power. To grant additional uses for a power, spend additional advantages. For example, if a character had Shadow Magic as an advantage and wished to obscure themselves or drown out light sources, that’s a good use of the power. However, the same character could not use their magic to create solid tendrils of shadow to grapple opponents or blind them since each of those uses would require an additional advantage. Conflict Resolution' '– There are two types of conflict in Playground - those which have been agreed to beforehand by players, usually with a predetermined outcome, and spontaneous conflict. In the event of conflict without a predetermined outcome, the involved characters or groups of characters roll 1d6. Every applicable advantage rank adds 1 to the roll. In the event of a conflict involving groups of characters, characters on the same side pool their advantage ranks and add the final number to a shared 1d6 roll. Example : Korath the Moderately Boistrous is having a grand old time brawling in a tavern. As there are no other PC's involved, and the tavern patrons are not exceptionally combat worthy, he is having little trouble. However, this fracas draws the attention of Archimedes the Chaste, a warrior of impeccable virtue, who sets out to subdue the ruffian. Korath has Strength I, Berserking I, Great Drinker I, and Hunting I. Archimedes has Swordsman I, Armor I, Strength I, and Poet I. Taking a look at their advantages, Korath realizes he has a +2 to his combat roll while Archimedes has a +3. However, if either party managed to convince the other to settle the dispute with a poetry reading or a drinking contest, one of them could call no contest. For the sake of this example though, combat is joined! Unfortunately for Archimedes, Korath's friend Borus the Unseemly is around the corner, and spends a Plot Ticket to hear his friend's battle cry. Borus is a brute with Strength III and Dog Training I, and thus has a +3 combat modifier. However, as he is helping Korath, they combine their advantages for a total of +5. Things are looking grim for Archimedes. Story Elements Use Story Elements to create people, places, races, items, materials, ideas, trends and historical events. Balance the impact or significance of what you’re creating with your level of detail and expansiveness. For example, creating an entire noble family and giving them names, appearances, personalities and a brief history is fine. However, if you created a character that is a cultural icon or immensely powerful, you’d want to make sure that’s all your story element covers. As a rule of thumb, you can be as general or specific as you like when creating a story element, just don’t go off on tangents and detail things not within the purview of your current element. Examples of Good Story Elements: • A law that makes it illegal to carry a sword in the city without a permit • A social trend where it’s unfashionable to wear black clothing to a formal event • A race of yellow furred scavenger creatures that prowl the alleys • A magical sword wielded by a hero of a past age • An unusual metal renowned for its strength and light weight • A war fought between two nations a century ago Guidelines No Vampires – Either classic or revamped, these blood suckers (sparkly and otherwise) are banned. No Magitech – Magic is not a science, and cannot be quantified or codified. You may not use magic for any technological or mechanical applications. (For example, enchanting a bow so that it sets arrows aflame is fine; a spell that picks locks or drives a wheel is not.) No WAAAGH! – You may not import distinct elements from well known sources. This means no chocobos, no Warhammer Orks, and no alchemists capable of reassembling matter with a clap of their hands. Mods have the power to veto any creation that resembles too closely any part of another setting. The exception to this rule is anything considered standard or iconic fantasy, for example, orcs as described in D&D’s Monster Manual. You may certainly draw inspiration from existing sources, just don’t blatantly rip off something. Riding giant birds into battle is fine, just as long as they’re not yellow! No Renaming the Rose – Do not create things to be kitschy or subversive. You may certainly create a noble race of orcs with a mystical heritage, but do not make your orcs fair skinned, pointy eared forest dwellers. It Shall Have a Common Name – If you create something and give it a fantastical sounding name, ensure that it also has a common name that is easy to remember. (For example, “Eladrin” is a fine name, but “High Elves” can’t be misspelled or forgotten.) Word of Mod – Anything deemed offensive, too silly or just “not cool” can be vetoed by the Moderators. This is especially true for anything that would countermand existing elements in the setting. The DOs and DO NOTs of Role Playing DO use proper grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc, etc. For example: “This is a properly spelled, properly punctuated sentence.” DO NOT use chatspeak, leetspeak, or any other form of internet/texting jargon in any post anywhere in the game. For example: “r u srs” will only get you mocked. DO write posts that facilitate gameplay. If someone is talking to you, talk back! If you have a creative new thing to build, build it! Posts that facilitate gameplay are staples of any good game. DO NOT write yourself into a corner. If all you ever do is write pages and pages about yourself, and never interact with anyone else, chances are the others in the game won’t want to interact with you. DO NOT expect everyone else to come looking for you. Haven’t been talked to in a while? Don’t complain about it, go out and find someone to talk to! Writers don’t like being made to feel as if they’ve been negligent, and if we haven’t talked to you there’s probably a good reason. DO be courteous to the other players. IC, OOC, over PM; a little teasing is acceptable, but being downright nasty only makes people feel upset and isolated, and can bring any game to a grinding halt. DO NOT make baseless accusations against other people. It’s mean, it’s not funny, and again it can bring any game to a grinding halt. If someone plays a sneaky character, don’t accuse them of “metagaming”; if two characters who are friends tell each other things they’ve seen, don’t accuse them of “conspiring”. DO take your perceived issues to a PM before airing your dirty laundry in the OOC threads. If someone had a problem with you, I’m sure you’d much rather they speak with you in private, as opposed to rounding up all their friends and forming a schoolyard gang to confront you; show others the same respect. DO take serious issues to the mods. If you have found that a serious issue cannot be resolved between yourself and another character, PM a mod. That’s what they are there for, to keep the game running smoothly and to ensure that everyone is having the most fun they can. DO feel free to ask for clarification! If you’re confused about someone’s post, have a question about the rules, or need something explained, please either PM a mod or post your question in OOC to have it cleared up. Playing when you’re uncertain about something can lead to even more snarls and confusion and make everyone irritable. DO let the other players know if you’re going to be gone for an extended amount of time, so that they can adjust plans accordingly; there’s nothing quite so disheartening as being suddenly and inexplicably stuck in a conversation with a person who up and disappears for a week. DO have a good time while playing. Having fun is key to a good writing experience.